About Building Democracy: The Story of State Legislatures
NCSL presents a special six-part series, “Building Democracy: The Story of Legislatures.” This mini-series covers the history, characters and stories of state legislatures in America, from the beginnings in Jamestown, to the present day and into the future.
Each episode in the series contains interviews with experts from inside and outside the legislative world to provide a comprehensive view of historical events and their legacy in today’s legislatures.
Building Democracy Episode 4: Bonus Interview - Dr. Lori Ann Lahlum & Dr. Molly P. Rozum
Many states have their own tales of political maneuvering and determined women. Check out our bonus interview to hear more details and what happened in states we weren’t able to cover. Full interview with Lori Ann Lahlum, professor at Minnesota State University, Mankato and Molly P. Rozum, Ron Nelson distinguished professor, University of South Dakota.
9 Mar 2022
Building Democracy Episode 3 - Bonus Content - I Claim the Rights of Man
Listen to the full speech I Claim the Rights of Man given in 1868 by Henry MacNeal Turner. Read by Georgia State Representative Billy Mitchell.
9 Mar 2022
Building Democracy Episode 2: Bonus Interview - Richard L. Pearce
Listen to the full interview with Richard L. Pearce, legal counsel with the South Carolina House Clerk
9 Mar 2022
Building Democracy Episode 1: Bonus Interview - Mary Elliott
Listen to the full interview with Mary Elliott, curator of American Slavery at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
11 Jan 2022
Building Democracy: The Story of State Legislatures | Episode 6
Our special podcast miniseries concludes by looking to the future of legislatures and how—in this centuries long relay of representative democracy—those currently serving will pass the baton to those who will lead these institutions into the future. With an exemplary lineup of guests, we examine possible challenges and future successes and explore how legislatures can honor long-held traditions and processes while building stronger, more effective and more representative 21st-century bodies.
11 Jan 2022
Building Democracy: The Story of Legislatures | Episode 5
The fifth installment of NCSL’s six-episode podcast series takes place in the not-too-distant past. The work of legislating changed dramatically between the 1960s and the 1990s, resulting in more responsive and representative legislatures.
By the early 1900s, legislatures had become increasingly dependent upon the executive branch, decreasing their coequal status in state government. Beginning in the late ’50s and early ’60s, demands on legislatures grew and lawmakers and their constituencies became more diverse.
In response to 20th-century challenges, lawmakers began to spend more time on the job, with sessions getting longer and more frequent, often including interim work. These changes, along with exponential increases in the number of legislative staff, brought the work of legislators and the mission of legislative institutions into a new age.
Delve into the characters, stories and organizations that believed in representative democracy and the legislative institution enough to come together and study, innovate and create stronger legislatures.
11 Jan 2022
Building Democracy: The Story of Legislatures | Episode 4
In this installment of NCSL’s six-episode podcast series, “Building Democracy: The Story of Legislatures,” we travel west to see how women fought and won their right to vote, as well as how they shaped state legislatures and life on the frontier well before the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
The story of the 19th Amendment and its dramatic ninth-hour ratification on the floor of the Tennessee House is well known and often told. Yet, momentous events in the history of women in the American West are overlooked. While their sisters fought in the salons, houses of worship and halls of government in the urban “civilized” East, women strode ahead helping to form governments in the rough and yet malleable West. Women in Wyoming, Utah and Colorado (to name only a few) fought against stereotypes and social expectations to win the recognition of their rights as American citizens. Each state’s suffrage movement had unique motivations and avenues to success. One common thread to their strategies? State legislatures.
11 Jan 2022
Building Democracy: The Story of Legislatures | Episode 3
n this installment, we explore how the states and their legislatures expanded west, split apart, and came together again.
The era of American history between 1803-1877 was one of massive territorial growth, conflict, and social and economic change. The U.S. evolved from a small grouping of former colonies and newly formed states on the East Coast to exponentially expanding territories across the South, Midwest and the wilderness of the West. Legislatures were the main venue for shaping these territories into states of diverse populations and environments. After the Civil War, state legislatures became the main setting for enforcing reconstruction policies and resistance to them. The struggle to integrate a huge population of formerly enslaved people into the citizenry led to incredible victories for the expansion of civil rights, only to see them shrink again, continuing the push and pull we continue to experience as a nation today.
11 Jan 2022
Building Democracy: The Story of Legislatures | Episode 2
The second episode tells the story of how a handful of colonial possessions became the first American states. How did deliberative bodies make the transition from colonial assemblies, to provincial congresses during the conflict, and then to democratically elected legislatures in a tumultuous time of uncertainty? It wasn’t easy and conflict arose in the hallowed halls of deliberative bodies, across geographic regions and even within families.
Join expert guests, including legal counsel with the South Carolina House Clerk’s office, Richard Pearce; Professor Peverill Squire; and Professor Alexander Keyssar for an inside look at representative democracy amid the American Revolution.
11 Jan 2022
Building Democracy: The Story of Legislatures | Episode 1
"First Assembly – Virginia 1619" examines life on the Jamestown colony, which has been called the first American startup, and introduces Sir Edwyn Sandys (pronounced "Sands"), "one of hte most influential characters in the history of the American colonies that no one ever heard of." A businessman charged with establishing a successful colony in America, Sandys' aspiration was to establish a society that was fairer than society in England. He helped write The Great Charter, which called for the election of representatives or “burgesses” to serve alongside appointed officials in a “General Assembly”, a direct DNA ancestor of today's legislatures.
Life in the colony was challenging and messy, chock full of scandals, corruption and infighting. Human beings became an early commodity through slave trade from Africa.
Join NCSL staffers and "Building Democracy" hosts John Mahoney and Megan McClure along with their expert guests, former Virginia clerk of the House, G. Paul Nardo; curator of American Slavery at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Mary Elliott; and Jim Horn, president of the Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation, as they explore this history—the good and the bad—and how the first meeting of these colonial representatives was the starting point in the story of America’s state legislatures.
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